At the threshold of national, social and educational crises that are worsening day by day in the densely populated Armenian communities of the Diaspora, and in particular the decision taken in mid-May of this year to close the Yuzbashian-Gulbenkian Armenian school, the only Armenian school in Jordan, gives rise to serious concerns, and therefore, the Central Board of the ADL decided to issue the following statement.
Based on the publications made during the last two years concerning the Yuzbashian-Gulbenkian school of Jordan, it is clear that today’s reality and the reasons for the closure decision are not accidental, but are the result of administrative and financial shortcomings accumulated over the years. Without intending to criticise, we believe that this negative course should have been the foremost concern of the leadership of the Jordanian community and the parents of the students. The community, after all, vitally needs and will continue to need that only Armenian school. Prompted by this imperative, the entire conscious mass of the Jordanian-Armenian community must today undertake every additional effort, reaching agreement through community-wide dialogue and consensus on the reopening of the school.
Taking into account that this school of vital importance already has a 58-year educational tradition and experience, pedagogical skill, established cooperation with international organisations, and more importantly, more than 30 registered Armenian male and female students, and apparently an equal number of Arab Christian students, the ADL is convinced that the necessity of keeping the school open continues today to remain a vital requirement, and the key to a favourable solution of this issue clearly lies in a new and in-depth community-wide dialogue, the revaluation of the school’s educational mission, the development of a new educational style, as well as innovative approaches, and in particular, the appointment of a young, capable and professional new leadership.
Therefore, the ADL calls upon all interested parties to reconsider the closure decision, relying on the wisdom of the Armenian community of Jordan, the Spiritual Leader and the parents, to preserve the school’s existence with responsibility and conscientiousness.
As part of the community’s conscious, concerned and progressive leadership, we instruct our comrades of the ADL’s Jordanian chapter to promote national solidarity, seeking solutions and fostering the school’s continuity programme through constructive community-wide, educational and parental dialogue that sets things right.
The only national school of Jordan is the moral mainstay of the community, the sole forge of Armenian preservation, the national backbone, the guarantee of the community’s identity. Therefore, every effort must be made so that these lofty values are preserved within the community’s Armenian-spirited national institutions, in particular, within the Yuzbashian-Gulbenkian school.
On behalf of:
THE CENTRAL BOARD OF THE ARMENIAN DEMOCRATIC LIBERAL PARTY
Raffi Balian | Secretary
Mike Kharapyan | Chairman
